15 local cadres helped Pahalgam attackers: Probe

NEW DELHI: Fifteen local Kashmiri overground workers (OGWs) and terror aides have been identified, based on electronic surveillance, as the key suspects who may have facilitated the Pakistani assailants behind the Pahalgam carnage. They are believed to have arranged logistics and, possibly, also received arms consignments from Pakistan.

Sources said the multi-agency probe has zeroed in on five prime suspects, of whom three have been "picked up", and may eventually face arrest. Police are on the lookout for the two other OGWs. All five were in the vicinity on the day of the strike, and earlier: their phones were active in the area.

Electronic surveillance threw up a chat in which the three detained prime suspects are talking to each other about Pakistani terrorists in Pahalgam and how to "help" them.

Meanwhile, more than 200 OGWs have been detained for questioning to trace the likely events leading up to the attack, said sources.

Attackers may still be holed up in dense Pahalgam forests

Sources said there is enough circumstantial evidence pointing to the role of all five in the Pahalgam strike. Ten other OGWs are being questioned by a joint interrogation team comprising investigators from NIA, J&K Police , Intelligence Bureau and RAW, as they are known to have helped Pakistan terrorists in Kashmir in the past and happened to be in the vicinity of the attack site on April 22.

The 15 local terror aides - all from south Kashmir - are already 'indexed' by the J&K police as OGWs and are believed to have facilitated Pakistani terrorists involved in multiple attacks across south Kashmir over the past couple of years, helping with logistics, guiding them through the jungles and even receiving consignments of arms from Pakistan for use in terror strikes," a source told TOI.

"There is enough circumstantial evidence pointing to their role as facilitators and in arranging logistics for the Pahalgam attack team, which comprised 4-5 terrorists, of whom at least two were Pakistanis and two local Kashmiris. We are trying to get more details out of the 15 detained OGWs to piece together the conspiracy, before taking a call on their likely arrest," said an officer.

As of Saturday, more than 200 OGWs were detained and questioned to help uncover the sequence of events leading up to the Pahalgam attack.

"Around 20-25 OGWs are detained for questioning. These are OGWs known to be in touch with, shelter and act as 'guides' to Pakistani terrorists. We are sifting through OGW database, having questioned over 1,500 of them, and have now zeroed in on 15 likely suspects. At the same time, other OGWs active in south Kashmir are being questioned to fill us in on the identity of Pakistani terrorists seen in the area and their possible hideouts," said an officer.

Sources said security personnel combing the forests encircling Baisaran for escaped terrorists, have further intensified the search. With the search in adjoining towns and districts throwing up no sign of attackers yet, there is suspicion that they may still be holed up in dense forests into which the meadow merges.